Showcasing Indigenous Scholarship in STEM - Black Knowing Seminar

Join the Carumba Institute for another seminar in the Showcasing Indigenous Scholarship Seminar Series!

For this seminar, we have invited three deadly Blackademics, Dr Craig Cowled, Ms Becki Cook, and Mr Ted Vanderfeen, to present on their scholarly and professional practice in STEM.

Presentations will be followed by a short Q&A segment.

If you would like to attend via Zoom, please email carumbainstitute@qut.edu.au.

About the Showcasing Indigenous Scholarship Seminar Series

This seminar series presents Black academics and Higher degree research students at QUT with an opportunity to showcase research and innovative teaching and learning approaches that encapsulate the engagement and application of Indigenous knowledges. Such knowledges have worked to challenge the Eurocentric domination of curricula and research practice using the mandate of the Indigenous Australian Research Strategy. Knowledge sharing as a means of reciprocal relations is a key feature of the strategy, and the seminar series affords occasions where this takes place.

Meet the Scholars:

Dr Craig Cowled

Craig is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering at QUT. As a Worimi man, Craig has a desire to inspire other Indigenous people to consider a career in engineering. Craig is a structural engineer with a deep interest in understanding how structures behave and a passion for sharing that knowledge with the next generation of emerging engineers.

Craig has worked in a diverse range of roles in the construction industry, including 7 years in manufacturing as a truss and frame designer, 2 years on a construction project as a site engineer, 3 years as a consulting structural engineer working predominantly on high-rise buildings, and more than a decade in academia.

Since completing his PhD in 2018 on structural health monitoring of bridges, Craig has aligned his research with industry demand for sustainable construction materials such as timber and engineered wood products. Craig’s teaching practice includes working with traditional owners to develop an engineering curriculum at QUT that embraces Indigenous voice and values.

Ms Becki Cook

Becki Cook is a Nunukul Aboriginal woman, educator, and researcher. She is currently undertaking a PhD with the QUT Centre for Data Science. Her doctoral research explores enhancing Indigenous data literacy with a focus on elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and priorities in the field of data science. Alongside her PhD, Becki works as a Research Assistant. With over 15 years of experience in the education sector, Becki has worked across secondary and tertiary settings as a science and mathematics teacher, student success coordinator, and research centre manager.

She holds a Bachelor of Science (Griffith University, 2007), a Graduate Diploma in Education – Secondary (QUT, 2012), a Master of Education and Professional Studies Research (Griffith University, 2021), and a Professional Certificate in Indigenous Research (University of Melbourne, 2024).

Mr Ted Vanderfeen

Ted is a proud Palawa man and PhD researcher at the QUT Centre for Robotics in partnership with the CSIRO Robotics group through an Indigenous Graduate Research Fellowship. Here at QUT, Ted is investigating using machine learning and AI techniques for improving the reliability of robots in outdoor and extreme environments, which will be the topic of his presentation.

Before joining QUT, Ted was a visiting student researcher at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He worked closely with the Ocean Worlds Laboratory to adapt and implement a sonar-based obstacle detection and avoidance system for the Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration, affectionately known as BRUIE. Ted obtained his Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)—Robotics and Mechatronics from Western Sydney University (WSU), graduating with first class honours and the was awarded a university medal. He completed his Honours research with the WSU International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, where he developed a motion compensation algorithm for Earth Observation data received from the Falcon Neuro mission aboard the ISS.